TU Berlin

“Charting a Sustainable Future: Sign up for ‘Advances in Water Management and Climate Adaptation’ Lecture Series!”
“Charting a Sustainable Future: Sign up for ‘Advances in Water Management and Climate Adaptation’ Lecture Series!” 1764 720 ide3a

While the ide3a project has concluded, the Smart Water Networks department of TU Berlin is continuing education  in the thematic realm of ide3a, as exemplified by the lecture series titled “Advances in Water Management and Climate Adaptation.” This course is scheduled every Tuesday from October 17th, 2023, to February 6th, 2024, taking place in person at TU Berlin and being streamed online, guest speakers will be either in person or connected online.

The lecture series on “Advances in Water Management and Climate Adaptation” is a comprehensive course designed to explore the latest techniques, tools, technologies, strategies, and policies in managing water resources and adapting to the challenges posed by climate change. Tools and technologies will include, among others, advanced modelling techniques, digital technologies, remote sensing, geographic information systems. Water management and climate adaptation strategies and policies will unpack the intertwined relationship between environmental, technological, societal, and economic stakes, and include topics related to climate justice, multi-objective optimization, risk and conflict management, and multi-sector dynamics under uncertainty.

Following an introductory session, different early-stage researchers from international universities, research institutions, technology centers, and policy institutes will present cutting edge research, projects, lessons learned, challenges and visions on water resources management and climate adaptation. Each lecture will have an approximate duration of one hour, followed by interactive discussions involving attending students and the lecturer.

Assessment includes weekly quizzes based on the lecture content and a concise final report focusing on one of the topics covered in the lecture series.

While a background in topics related to water resources management, hydrology, hydraulics, environmental systems analysis, or related fields is recommended, it is not a strict requirement for participation. Participants will earn 3 ECTS credits for their engagement in this course.

We extend a warm welcome to external participants, for details follow the link below.

 

Register here!

ConnectiCity at LNDW 2023
ConnectiCity at LNDW 2023 1920 2560 ide3a

Climate change and urbanization are posing major challenges to sustainable urban development, which needs to address the increasing risk of extreme hydroclimatic events such as flooding, population growth, growing demands for resources, housing shortage, and increased traffic. ConnectiCity is a serious game which has been developed by the ide3a project partners with the aim to provide its player base with comprehensive understanding of the aforementioned challenges, their impact on interconnected critical urban infrastructure systems, and possible solutions to effectively mitigate them in an interactive educational environment.

With the official release of the serious game ConnectiCity on the 20th of March this year it was finally time to introduce the game to a wider audience using any opportunity. Such opportunity presented itself during the Long Night of Science (German: Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, LNDW) on the 17th of June 2023. This renowned annual event serves as a platform for scientific institutions to engage with the public, and ConnectiCity was proudly featured at both the FSD Chair at TU Berlin and the Einstein Center simultaneously.

Teams of experts were assigned to each location, instructing visitors allowing them to not only learn about the scientific background of ConnectiCity but also to experience the game firsthand with guidance from these knowledgeable teams. The response from visitors of all ages was overwhelmingly positive, as they immersed themselves in the gameplay and engaged in thought-provoking discussions about the challenges facing sustainable urban development.

The ide3a team is delighted by the level of interest and enthusiasm shown by the participants who didn’t show a single sign of exhaustion when nearing midnight.

 

 

 

 

© ECDF/PR/Felix Noak

ide3a Smart City Hackathon 2022 concluded
ide3a Smart City Hackathon 2022 concluded 2470 1475 ide3a

The ide3a Smart City Hackathon 2022 took place at the ECDF from the 30th of November to the 2nd of December, 2022. The in-person event concluded the Smart Sensing and Smart Cities schools, which were held online during this Winter Semester. The two schools focused on the digitisation of urban critical infrastructure across the water, mobility, and IT sectors and are taught by experts from different faculties of the TU Berlin and international guest speakers from some of the ide3a partner universities NTNU, DCU, PoliMi, PK, and Hasso-Plattner-Institut (HPI). This year also featured guest speakers from the University of Western Australia, the University of Hong Kong, Friedrich Alexander University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and companies such as Ramboll and Form Follows You. The program included lectures and practical trainings on topics related to digital sensors, open data, distributed IT systems are explored, as well as how they relate to governance and relevant stakeholders.

During the hackathon, 50 students from TU Berlin (TUB), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Politecnico Di Milano (PoliMi), who attended the two Smart Schools, joint forces to solve one of four challenges related to the different sectors introduced over the past weeks. Challenges for this year included blue-green infrastructure placement, privacy of smart meter data, resilient edge computing, and urban mobility monitoring. ide3a was pleased to have Dr. Aurel von Richthofen – Cities Team Leader, Arup (Semantic data for the next generation of Universal Digital Twins) and Ana Chubinidze – Founder and CEO, Adalan AI (AI Governance and ethics) on board as keynote speakers. The Jury members were Sangyoung Park (Assistant Professor of Smart Mobility Systems, TU Berlin), Betül Özdemir (Open Data Officer, Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Inneres, Digitalisierung und Sport), Morgan Geldenhuys (Entrepreneur in the digital health sector), and David Steffelbauer (Hydroinformatics Group Leader, Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin).

For the students, it was a great opportunity to come together in Berlin to unleash their creativity in finding solutions to smart city challenges, while leveraging the knowledge acquired with our online courses. The goal was to put their new knowledge and tools into action, build some viable prototypes and most importantly work together in international and multidisciplinary teams. In addition to the work, ide3a also offered a social programme, for example yoga classes in the morning, a visit to a typical Christmas market at the banks of the Spree river and a sightseeing tour. At the end of the ide3a Hackathon, all groups presented their work to the assembled participants and received detailed feedback from the jury. Finally, the best team with the name “404” who worked on the challenge BGI (blue green infrastructure) placement was awarded an Arduino board and prototyping kit.

Copywrite all pictures: © ECDF/PR/Felix Noak

ide3a at LNDW 2022
ide3a at LNDW 2022 2560 1920 ide3a

ide3a was represented with a booth at the Long Night of Science (German: Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, LNDW) at TU Berlin on July 2nd 2022. The LNDW is an established annual event where scientific institutions present themselves to the public. Also this year, many interested people of all ages came to see what is being researched and worked on at the university.

The contribution of ide3a was to present its serious game “ConnectiCity”. The game is a multi-layered digital, open source, serious game to enable scenario analysis, simulation, and optimisation of urban critical infrastructure systems. In the laboratory of the Department of Smart Water Networks and Fluid System Dynamics alone, where ide3a had its booth, the organisers counted 422 visitors. The ide3a team was very pleased with how much interest people showed for their presentation and received a lot of positive and motivational feedback.

CID-Workshop in Berlin
CID-Workshop in Berlin 2126 1417 ide3a

Between May 17th and 19th around 30 students from PoliMi, NTNU, HPI and TUB met in Berlin for a 3 day workshop. The event was organized as part of the lecture series “Critical Infrastructure & Digitalization (CID)” organized by ide3a.

© Bea Meyer

On Day 1 a workshop on “Simulating Urban Storm Water Systems and Green-Blue Infrastructure” was conducted by ide3a ambassadors Siling Chen, Florian Brokhausen and Dóra Hegyi. The workshop was followed by a campus tour at TU Berlin and a get-together.

The testing of our prototype of the serious game “ConnectiCity” was the start of Day 2. The students played the prototype and gave us helpful feedback on the further development of our game. The Regenwasseragentur Berlin gave the participants of the CID course a three hour tour through the area of Rummelsburg. The area was designed and constructed in the 90s and is a showcase for various green-blue infrastructure measures such as green roofs and bioswales.

© Markus Fischer

A workshop on “Urban Storm Water Systems and Green-Blue Infrastructure” on Thursday concluded the event and all students headed back home. We appriciated the opportunity to hold an in-person event to meet the students while having an otherwise online-course. That way the students from the partner universities can participate in the lecture series without coming to Berlin each week.

Register now for lecture series “Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation” 2022
Register now for lecture series “Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation” 2022 3639 1846 ide3a

**ATTENTION**: The registration is now closed.

For the second time, ide3a is hosting its lecture series “Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation” for students from all partner universities (TU Berlin, NTNU Trondheim, DCU Dublin, PoliMi Milano, CUT Cracow, HPI Potsdam). Lectures will take place every Tuesday from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. during the upcoming summer semester starting on April 19 until July 19, 2022 and will be held in English. The exam deadline is August 7, 2022.

In addition to the weekly lectures, we are aiming for a three-day in-person event from May 17 to 19, 2022 in Berlin, which will include two workshops and a field trip. Students from outside Germany will receive funding by ide3a for travelling and accommodation costs. However, this will only be possible if COVID regulations allow it at the time. Otherwise, we will resort to last year’s fully digital format. Furthermore, there is going to be a second workshop (digital only) on June 21 and 23.

The lecture series provides an overview on the digital and technological transformation of different sectors of urban critical infrastructure. These sectors include water networks, energy grids, sensor and communication networks, as well as mobility. Within each topic we are paying special attention to the way sensor and open data networks can enable a shift toward new ways of monitoring, operating, and managing these systems efficiently and sustainably. Additionally, the goal of the course is to identify and discuss the synergies and inter-dependencies between the different sectors and topics.

Experts from different faculties of TU Berlin and guest speakers from the ide3a partner universities will present cutting edge research projects, lessons learned, challenges and visions.

The lectures will be completed by two practical workshops. The overall grade for the ‘Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation’ course is composed of 3 assignments: (1) individual weekly quizzes, (2) a final group report and (3) an individual reflection video. Previous experience in programming is an advantage but not necessary. We will make sure that at least someone in each group has programming skills.

This course awards 6 ECTS if all lectures and the exam are completed. Please note that students from our partner universities must take care of crediting the course in their home university. We will help in that process by providing the necessary information and documentation.

The registration is now closed.

Please note that the motivation part will not be used for the selection of students but (1) to make sure we are dealing with real people and to (2) get to know more about the expectations of our participants to prepare for the course.

©Bea Meyer

Smart City Hackathon 2021 concluded
Smart City Hackathon 2021 concluded 1836 657 ide3a

The ide3a network is proud to announce its first successfully hosted hybrid Smart City Hackathon which has taken place at the Technische Universität Berlin from the 1st till the 3rd of December 2021.

© Bea Meyer

Following strict COVID-19 safety measures a total of 69 students of more than 15 nationalities representing four of the ide3a partner universities have come together at the TUB and in the world wide web. The students formed eleven teams to face a jury proving their acquired expertise from the attendance of previous ide3a schools in a field of their choice from several field subjects related to the water, energy and infrastructure sector while being guided by their assigned mentor. To ensure COVID-19 safety measures the teams were assigned a room each while participants as well as staff members were required to undergo daily testing.

Nikhil Chaudhary, Climate-KIC ©Bea Meyer

The jury consisted of TUB ide3a professors and ambassadors, professor Paweł S. Hachaj from the Institute of Water Engineering and Water Research at the Cracow University of Technology as well as the research associate Morgan K. Geldenhuys from the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Technische Universität Berlin. To increase the excitement of the participants for their subject field of choice the Smart City Hackathon featured Nikhil Chaudhary as guest speaker who emphasized the importance of sustainability in his talk about the Climate-KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) which is an EU initiative working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon and resilient world by enabling systems transformation.

After three days of intensive research and working the teams hack4future, TITANS and Resilient Edgers emerged as winning teams and were rewarded prizes, amongst other things a digital hand shower. The ide3a network would like to congratulate the winning teams again and thank every single student for their participation wishing every student a successful onward journey in their education!

©Lisa Westphal

Working for ide3a – open position at TU Berlin
Working for ide3a – open position at TU Berlin 2496 1472 ide3a

You are a student in Berlin and looking for a job? The ide3a project is looking to enrich its team with student workers supporting the scientific work of the ide3a consortium.

The ide3a project focuses on the digitalization of critical infrastructures like water networks, energy grids, sensor networks, and other interconnected urban systems. We work together with five major European partner universities and institutes to support the mobility of students across Europe. A declared goal of ide3a is the development of a serious game based on the simulation of critical urban infrastructures. The students will be fully involved in the collaborative research on the serious game and, thus, gain comprehensive insights into scientific practices. Furthermore, the student can improve their problem solving and interdisciplinary communication skills.

The position comprises 60 working hours/month and is paid according to TV Stud III. The contract is of fixed duration until December 31st 2021 with the option of extension in case of funding available. Since we have a very international team, English is the working language. Knowledge of German is an asset but not mandatory.

The tasks of the student worker are the following:

  • Support the team in their research (e.g. literature research, testing of frameworks etc.)
  • Support the development of a serious game/simulation of critical urban infrastructures under different scenarios
  • With a focus on the respective topics of the department (see below)

Student Worker at the Chair of Urban Resilience and Digitalisation

Focus of the department: Simulation of water networks and green-blue infrastructures

Required Qualifications: Study program in Architecture, Landscape Architecture or Urban Design/Planning/Management; Knowledge of urban infrastructure (Water infrastructure & green-blue infrastructures; experience in simulation of complex systems and their interaction

Link to the Jobadvertisement: The job ticket can be found here.

Application deadline: May 14th 2021

How to apply: Please send your application in English with the reference number and the usual documents (cover letter and CV) by email until May 12th to Lisa Westphal ().

Information on cyber attack: TU Berlin is faced with a cyber attack and not available via Email. The deadlines for all applications were extended to May 14th 2021 and the e-mail Adress of Lisa Westphal provided above is a preliminary mailing address valid until TU Berlin is back digitally.

Register now for lecture series on “Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation”
Register now for lecture series on “Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation” 1047 582 ide3a

ide3a offers a series of lectures by all partners of the network in the summer term of 2021. The course will be conducted fully digitally and we invite students from all partner universities to join the lectures on “Critical Infrastructure and Digitalisation”.

If you are interested, register through the form below until April 1st 2021. We will inform all applicants shortly after the deadline if their application was successful.

The lecture series provides an overview on the digital and technological transformation of different sectors of urban critical infrastructure. These sectors include water networks, energy grids, sensor and communication networks, as well as mobility. Within each topic we are paying special attention to the way sensor and open data networks can enable a shift toward new ways of monitoring, operating, and managing these systems efficiently and sustainably. Additionally, the goal of the course is to identify and discuss the synergies and inter-dependencies between the different sectors and topics.

Experts from different faculties of TU Berlin, guest speakers from the ide3a partner universities (NTNU Trondheim; DCU Dublin; PoliMi Milano; CUT Cracow), and from the utility sector and policy making domain will present cutting edge research projects, lessons learned, challenges and visions.

The lectures will be completed by two practical workshops. The exam to complete the course is a portfolio exam consisting of a report to be written in groups, a scientific literature presentation, a video assignment and small weekly quizzes.

Lectures will be held in English and takes place every Tuesday from 3.30 pm to 5 pm starting on April 13th 2021. This course awards 6 ECTS if all lectures and the exam are completed. Please note that students from our partner universities have to take care of crediting the course in their home university. We will help in that process by providing the necessary information and documentation.

Registrations are now closed.

© ide3a 2021
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